garage sale tales

So yesterday my sister, Jenny, and I held our annual garage sale.
To clear through the detritus that seems to clog our houses
through out the year.
And let me just say, that garage sales attract all kinds.
The morning started out with a gentlemen arriving at our door at 6:30 a.m.
Our garage sale started at 8:00 a.m.
Some folks can get overly excited.
He was wanting old video games of which we had none.
Then he informed me that I really should put up signs...
that no one would know where the sale was.
I informed him back that I planned to put up signs....at 8:00.
(I am maybe a little grouchy at when caught off guard in my
driveway at 6:30 in the morning. Okay, I'm a lot grouchy.)
Then there was the lady who picked up the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook.
She wanted to know how flat my belly was and asked if I
could lift up my sweatshirt.
I obliged, having a t-shirt on underneath, and I must have passed
muster since she bought the book for 50 cents.
(I will admit to sucking in my gut before lifting my sweatshirt...
we do what we have to get a sale.)
Another lady tried on a bunch of t-shirts...on my front lawn.
Jenny and I saw quite a bit more of her belly than we hoped to.
I have never seen the trying on on the lawn before but apparently
it worked for her...she bought two shirts.
We also had a few people try to take us and
put the squeeze on us.
Even when we were bargaining with them.
Jenny and I have our limits.
Several times we invited people not to buy, if our prices
were too steep. (We sold almost everything for under $5.)
We were gracious and kind...and unmoved when they whined about it.
We can bargain only so far.
Even more fun were the items we gave away for free.
A baby swing to a family who had a 6 week old.
An overstuffed chair to a lady who was eye-ing it.
The small plastic basketball hoop for a small boy.
A car track to a little girl who was longing for it but
didn't have the cash.
Unexpected kindness has a way of making things
happy and light-hearted.
We sat back and laughed as we saw their joy.
But perhaps the most fun was watching the boys on the make.
Each boy had his own table cloth with books and toys that he
had picked to sell.
Jack started out the morning with a lady approaching him
about the bike he had outgrown.
She said it would be perfect for her grandson...
how much did he want for it?
Jack said for her to name her price since he didn't know.
I suggested $10. She shook her head, no, she said,
she was sure it was worth $20. Could he hold it for her
till she came back with her money?
I thought Jack would explode from sheer joy.
He made the highest sale of the day.
He spent the rest of the day enticing buyers
to come look at his wares.
He took an aggressive approach beckoning every customer
to his small patch of inventory.
Several times I looked over and saw grown men
inspecting Nerf guns and Hardy boy books.
Jack takes garage sales seriously.
Addison and Will also made a variety of sales, large and small,
lining their pockets with dollars and quarters.
By the day's end, each one was carrying a small white envelope
filled with their take.
Addison declared it the best day EVER.
How often does a 5 year old have $19 in his possession?
All in all, it was a day well spent.
And now I'm pretty sure that Jenny and I have one thing in mind.
Next weekend, it's our turn to go garage sale-ing.